


A Thousand, Thousand Sighs to Save

by hesterbyrde



Series: Loved the Stars Too Fondly [2]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Hand Jobs, M/M, NSFW, Post Fall, SO MUCH LUBE, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 15:36:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7850971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hesterbyrde/pseuds/hesterbyrde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will was still convinced that at any moment it would all dissolve into the thin gray fog of the Atlantic. And he would find himself back in the cavernous chalet with only his memories and the pounding surf for company. </p><p>But he would close his eyes, and listen to his surroundings. The ocean here was different. In Virginia, the rhythm of the waves had been an ominous funeral drum, echoing up through the depths of the rock. But here… it mixed with the sound of Hannibal’s heartbeat, and held no such threat. It washed over him, and through him, and grounded him in the moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thousand, Thousand Sighs to Save

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings all and Happy Fannibal Day (and happy Hannigram Day one day late... please don't eat me!)
> 
> This work of complete and utter smut follows on from my fic "Widow's Walk." You don't really have to have read it... though it will spoil that fic's twist.
> 
> The fic title comes from Shakespeare's poem "Come Away Death."
> 
> The only real warnings are that this is NSFW like whoa. Oh... and it's not beta read, and has only been edited by me. So I'm sure there are mistakes. I need to get my act togeth- wait, what do you mean the next challenge is in like less than three weeks. One of which will be spent at Dragon*con. *spaz*
> 
> Enjoy and thank you as always for reading!

Will still wasn’t sure if he was dreaming. 

Finding Hannibal’s map in the stars. Sailing off in a pristine sailboat across the ocean, following those very same stars. Was that his pulse or the hoofbeats of Equus pounding in his ears? 

They landed in the seaside town of Leuca on the heel of the boot of Italy. Will couldn’t be exactly sure how many days they sailed. But they caught sight of the harbor just as the sun breached the horizon, burning away the mist and painting the white plaster buildings a brilliant gold.

Even now that they had been in Leuca a week, Will was still convinced that at any moment it would all dissolve into the thin gray fog of the Atlantic. And he would find himself back in the cavernous chalet with only his memories and the pounding surf for company. 

But he would close his eyes, and listen to his surroundings. The ocean here was different. In Virginia, the rhythm of the waves had been an ominous funeral drum, echoing up through the depths of the rock. But here… it mixed with the sound of Hannibal’s heartbeat, and held no such threat. It washed over him, and through him, and grounded him in the moment.

They were never far apart in those days. On the tiny sailboat closeness was as easy as it was necessary. But once they landed and moved into their alabaster white villa up on the bluff, Will found he awkwardly trailed Hannibal wherever he went. Like a silent, uncertain shadow. But Hannibal for his part didn’t seem bothered by it. He seemed to welcome it, in fact. When he’d spy Will lingering in a doorway, or sheepishly glancing at him from across the room, he would stretch out his arm and reel Will into his side. 

It all felt like a wonderful dream.

Except when they were in bed together. 

When they were in bed together, settled between the luxurious sheets, naked, rutting, and desperate, the whole world went from hazy and faded to sharpened technicolor. Every shift of Hannibal’s mouth on his cock, and every groaned phrase elicited in some foreign language lit Will’s world on fire. And in the afterglow, he would cling… oh, how he would mightily cling to the idea that all this was real. That he was in Italy. With Hannibal. And that he wasn’t going to wake up and find him gone again. That he could have this. And no one could take it away.

But each morning, inevitably he would find the hazy, dreamlike state of unreality returned.

***

“I want you to fuck me.” Will whispered into the dark of their bedroom as Hannibal spooned around him, stroking his cock in time to his erratic thrusts.

At first the only answer was the whisper of the far off surf. Hannibal stilled making Will moan insistently. He laid a kiss on the nape of Will’s neck and resumed his perfectly timed strokes. 

“I will want to take my time.” Hannibal said, his voice already losing its rough edge. He’d come first tonight, spending himself down Will’s eager throat with a ragged gasp.

“You won’t hurt me.” Will assured him, pulling his arm tighter across his chest.

Hannibal laughed, a sound more felt than heard. It combined with the wicked little twist of his wrist made Will arch back against his chest with a breathy little whine. “You mistake my intentions.” He murmured against the shell of his ear. “Though I suppose I should be flattered at the perceived altruism. No, darling, I want to take my time because I want to thoroughly peel you apart before I lose myself inside you. I desire to see you shake with want… perhaps even beg if the mood strikes you.” Hannibal’s fist had tightened around Will’s cock as he spoke, and he fucked into it harder and faster as he felt his climax suddenly begin to build in earnest.

“Ah… Hannibal…” he keened.

“I want to see you pushing yourself onto my fingers. Watch your eyes shine at every new sensation. I want to watch apprehension melt into desperation. And I want to watch you pleasuring yourself in that desperation, until that want consumes us both, and the only relief to be found is me burying myself inside you.”

Will lost it at the image of himself spread out on the bed. He could see it so vividly in his mind’s eye, that he wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t just projected them both forward in time. His body drew taught as a bowstring, and he came in a hot rush over Hannibal’s deliciously tight fist.

“Yeah… yeah we can do that.” Will whispered shakily, as he came back to himself.

He felt Hannibal smile against the crook of his neck. “Tomorrow then.” He breathed, before laying a kiss against Will’s temple.

***

Will stood out on the terrace of the villa watching the blistering summer afternoon fade towards the gold of evening. Below him, the bone white architecture of the little town stretched out until the shape of its staircase met the white foam of the sea.

Hannibal had been gone since lunch. Neither of them pretended to not know what he was doing, though it seemed base to actually bother discussing it. Will felt his stomach give an anxious twist whenever he thought about it. He’d never had much patience for sex… especially nothing like this that required preparation and an awkward trip to the drug store. It all seemed so… unnecessary. Over-done. Crude, even.

And yet he found the idea appealing whenever he and Hannibal were in bed together. He wanted it then. Could see the image clearly… floating within easy grasp on the surface of his mind. And feel the desire sing in his blood. 

He didn’t hear Hannibal return at first, but heard his footfall on the terrace. Will half turned as he approached and folded himself around him, heedless of the lingering heat of the day. Will sank back against him, breathing in the scent of his aftershave and the clean crispness of his linen shirt. It washed away his awkwardness and apprehension.

He knew Hannibal could feel it slipping away. Sense its echo in his frame, because he asked, “Are you certain you want this?”

Will nodded. “You know me. My head gets in the way of everything.”

“Tell me what’s plaguing you.”

“It’s just… sex is always awkward and messy, both metaphorically and literally. And if you think about it too much it’s completely absurd and,” he paused to laugh, “Let’s face it. When am I not thinking too much?”

He felt Hannibal smile against his hair. “Will it do you any good if I assure you that you won’t be doing much thinking if I do my job correctly?”

It was Will’s turn to smile. “You are good at that.” he said, drawing his arms more tightly around his waist. “Want me to go upstairs?”

“When you’re ready.” Hannibal murmured, seeming content to watch the sun sink towards the glassy horizon. He laid a gentle kiss behind Will’s ear. Will knew he wasn’t looking out at the vista. 

Will waited for just a moment, watching a flock of pelicans flying low over the surf. They were barely more than silhouettes against the reflected sunlight on the water. Then he turned, tipping his head back and slotting his lips against Hannibal’s. They both swayed into the kiss, Hannibal lazily licking into Will’s mouth. Then without a word, Will saw himself upstairs.

***

Hannibal had apparently been home longer than Will realized. The sheets on the bed had been changed to fresh white cotton. He paused at the bedside, he hadn’t been given any other instructions, but it seemed silly to remain clothed any longer. He stripped down and settled himself face down on the sheets, fighting the instinct to rut against the smooth fabric for all he was worth. Maybe this wouldn’t be so awkward after all.

Hannibal joined him a few moments later. He smiled at the sight of Will, naked and flattened to the bed. He stripped down as well and joined him, curling onto his side and trailing his long, delicate fingers over the contours of Will’s back. The late afternoon light pooled into the crevices of his face, making him appear older and more human than Will ever recalled seeing him. For his part, he didn’t realize that the same golden light had haloed his curls in a beatific likeness before Hannibal’s eyes. He spent a long time tracing his fingers over every curve of Will’s frame. Finding the edges of scars, and watching the light play against his skin. 

“Turn over.” He said finally, patting his lower back.

“I figured you wanted me on my stomach. Easier access.” Will said with his best roguish grin.

Hannibal wanted to kiss it off his lips. “Perhaps another time. I do find the thought of you prostrate and defenseless appealing, but I want to see your face when we do this for the first time.”

Will visibly swallowed as Hannibal pulled out a very large bottle of lube, and set it on the bedside table. “Feeling ambitious?”

“I think you’ll appreciate the excess. Especially this first time.”

Will couldn’t help but laugh a little. “This is what I mean when I said that some of this is ridiculous.”

“I’m not inclined to disagree.” Hannibal said, eyeing the bottle. “But I think I can distract you from at least some of the absurdity.” He trailed his fingers up the hollow of Will’s hip making him give a little gasp. Hannibal smiled then, giving the slightest glimpse of his predatory teeth. He let his fingers tease there brushing the sensitive skin in the crease, but never touching his cock which was already more than half hard. “So sensitive.” he remarked, earning a high, sweet little moan from Will. 

Hannibal half rolled onto his back to retrieve a few pumps of lube from the bottle. When he returned to face Will, he kissed him hard, letting him feel the edge of his teeth as he slicked Will’s cock.

Will bowed off the bed a little and groaned into Hannibal’s open mouth earning him an answering growl. “You… I thought you... “ he fumbled for his breath and his words as he fucked up into Hannibal’s loose fist.

“Oh Will. So impatient already?” Hannibal tutted, his smile growing teeth. “That doesn’t bode well for you tonight.”

“T… tonight? But it’s…” he cast his eyes to the afternoon sun, sagging low towards the horizon.

“I promised you I would take my time.” Hannibal said, kissing him again. “I do keep my promises.”

Will groaned and fell back against the pillows, even as he thrust up into Hannibal’s deliciously slick fist. “Fuck…” he whispered.

“When I said I wanted to peel you apart, I was being metaphorical, but not exaggerating.” Hannibal said, keeping his rhythm steady but his grip just a bit too loose. Will tried to influence him by thrusting and thrashing a bit in his frustration, but Hannibal’s patience seemed to have no limit. “I want to see you reduced to little more than the pure and carnal need to beg for more.”

Hannibal reached for another generous palmful of lube. Will couldn’t even bring himself to be bothered by it. Thoughts of how messy this was going to be were already a dull roar compared with the sound of his blood pounding in his ears. He just wanted Hannibal’s hand back on his cock.

But he only stroked him a few times before his fingers began to wander further downward. Will felt his body stiffen before he could rein in the reaction, but Hannibal’s lips brushed his forehead. 

“Spread your legs for me, darling.” he whispered, tenderly. 

Will complied, fighting against the nervousness that was trying to wind its way into his body. Hannibal’s fingers slipped down, smearing lube in their wake until they brushed against Will’s puckered entrance. He cinched his eyes shut, even as he tried desperately to force his body to relax. 

“It won’t hurt.” Hannibal said, leaving another kiss on his temple. 

“I… almost want it to.” Will said, a beautiful blush spreading across his face. The lengthening shadows were finding their way into the bedroom, even as the sky was catching fire. “It feels as though it should.”

“Because you always want to fight.” Hannibal said, his finger still drawing slow, lazy circles around the ring of muscle. No pressure… just sensation. “Everything is a fight to you, because everyone holds a threat.”

“But not you.” Will stared up at him earnestly. “You… at least you never should have.”

“Apologies and forgiveness. Will we ever be past it?” Hannibal asked with a soft smile.

“I should have run away with you. You knew me better than anyone. Even me.”

“I knew one possible version of you.” Hannibal corrected. “And it isn’t the one I am pleasuring now.” His words were emphasized by the barest increase in the pressure from his fingertip.

Will gasped and shivered, which turned into a shimmy towards Hannibal’s hand. “Which would you have preferred.”

“This.” Hannibal whispered, roughly. “A thousand times over.”

“Why?”

“Because before everything was a fight. Now, you lay everything bare for me, metaphorically and not. And we both see more clearly for it.”

Will closed his eyes and canted his hips, making his flushed cock bounce wetly on his stomach and driving himself down against the tip of Hannibal’s finger. He gasped at the sensation, but didn’t recoil.

“I take it you want more?” Hannibal replied with a grin.

Will could only nod as he tried to wet his open, gasping mouth.

More lube this time, and Hannibal pressed in. Will’s face bunched at the intrusion. 

“Painful?” Hannibal asked.

Will furtively shook his head. “Just… weird.”

Hannibal nodded, retrieving more lube for his other hand as he moved to sit between Will’s thighs. He slicked up Will’s cock again and began to stroke him in a smooth, even rhythm as his finger slowly worked at his rim. “You mentioned you had fantasized about this in bed.” he said. “Tell me, Will. What form do those fantasies take?”

“If I answer and you ask me how it makes me feel…” he warned between gasps, earning him a fond, if wet slap on his hip from Hannibal. “I… I imagined you’d do it from behind. I buried my face in the pillow so there’s… there’s only sensation. I felt less… vulnerable.”

“Do you feel vulnerable now?” Hannibal asked, cocking his head.

Will nodded, wetting his lips. The meter of his hips had become indecisive… confused between desire to rut into Hannibal’s grasp, or push back against the still probing finger. 

“Is this a productive feeling?”

“If you mean you’re wondering if I’m getting off on it, I think it’s safe to say I currently am.”

“You like the feeling of being spread open.”

“Of being seen.” Will supplied, the last word catching on a high moan as Hannibal slipped his finger in past the first knuckle. “Of being… wanted.” he finally managed.

Hannibal stilled for a split second at that admission. He leaned forward and kissed will, mirroring the slow teasing of his finger with the languid motion of his tongue in Will’s mouth. “I hope I can make it so that you will never lack for that sensation again.”

“You do…” Will breathed, stealing another kiss between words. “You do…”

Will’s body began to give under the steady, sinuous pressure of Hannibal’s finger slowly burying itself in his ass. His breath would catch every time he expected pain, but would only be met with a slick, easy slide. It felt so obscene and yet so… perfect. Once the full length of his finger had been worked inside, he began a shallow thrusting motion, mirrored and enhanced by the continued rhythm of Hannibal’s fist around his throbbing cock.

“I want to add another finger.” Hannibal whispered, leaning down to nibble along the line of Will’s throat.

“Whatever you want.” Will said. He was slowly being drained of all will to do anything but lie there and feel. His limbs felt heavy, and the only tightness in his body was the fire kindled low in his hips, stoked by every movement of Hannibal’s clever hands.

“What I want is whatever you need.” Hannibal replied, reverently.

“Do it… I… I want to feel it, Hannibal.” Will managed to work out.

Hannibal gently withdrew his hand, drenching in with more lube before starting the whole process again with two fingers. Will moaned impatiently rocking his body to try and catch more of everything. More friction. More stretching. Just more…

Once the two fingers were fully inside, Hannibal didn’t begin thrusting as before. Rather he began scissoring them apart and then started working in slow, curling circles until he brushed across something that made Will bow up off the bed with a shout.

“Ah… fuck…” he keened as his cock drooled precum onto his slick belly.

“There we are.” Hannibal replied, repeating the motion to a similar effect. Then he began circling the soft bulge he’d found deep in Will’s ass, outlining it with the pads of his fingers as sweat broke out on Will’s flushed face.

“Jesus, fuck…” he swore again, writhing and wriggling, chasing the sensation that he was suddenly being deprived of. 

“Be still and be patient, Will.” Hannibal coaxed. 

“I can’t… God fuck… that feels…”

“I know… I want to draw this out.” Hannibal whispered. “And one day, I promise to fulfill your fantasy of being fingered while facedown on the bed. I will do just this for hours and hours until it will only take me curling my fingers just so, to make you come without the first touch on your cock.”

“You want to play with me.” Will accused.

“You beg to be played with.” Hannibal replied. “Look at you… you’re the mess you feared. Slick, sweaty, and flushed, but begging with every motion for more. It’s beautiful. I should draw you like this.”

“I want more.” Will whispered, desperation kindling in his eyes in the blossoming light of the sunset.

“Tell me.”

“You want me to tell you...”

“I want you to beg for it.” Hannibal corrected.

The dark tone of those words sent Will arching off the bed, chasing more sensation as the confession poured from his mouth. “I want... Fuck, I want…” his words broke off into a long whine as Hannibal’s fingers curled against his prostate again, and his fist milked the stream of precum it created out onto this stomach.

“Go on.” 

“You’re going to make me come doing that.”

“No, I won’t. I promise.” Hannibal said wickedly.

“Please…” Will asked, trying to make his voice sound as sweet as possible, but he had to grit his teeth to even work that single word out.

Hannibal grinned. “So polite.” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “What do you want, Will. Be specific.”

Will moaned in desperation as he tried to line up the words. “I want you to fuck me, Hannibal. I want to feel your cock inside me.”

“And how do you want it?”

“Like this… face to face. And… and…” he trailed off as words failed him.

“And what else.”

He shut his eyes against the embarrassment of what he was about to ask for. “Gently. I want… I want it gently.” He opened his eyes, expecting to see snide, feral refusal, but Hannibal’s liquid black eyes only glittered with pride.

“Whatever you need, Will.” He replied, kissing Will’s sweaty forehead. “Now, ask nicely.”

“Please.” the word tumbled from Will’s trembling lips in fractured pieces. “Please Hannibal…”

Satisfied with the plea, Hannibal slicked his own cock with a generous amount of lube before lining himself up with Will’s entrance. He had been hard since they’d started, stalwartly ignoring his own desires which had been a dull ache in the background until Will began to beg. Then it was fanned like a wildfire.

“Are you ready?” Hannibal asked as he wrapped one arm securely under Will’s shoulders. Will nodded, his sweat dampened curls bobbing on his forehead. 

When he first breached Will’s entrance, it took every ounce of Hannibal’s strength not to slam his cock home. The slick, tight heat of Will’s body seemed to pull him in like gravity. And the successive expressions that passed over Will’s face were like watching the sun rise. A slow, inexorable dawning of pleasure.

“Ha-Hannibal…” he barely got out more than the soundless shape of his name, as if Hannibal pushing into his body had expelled all the air from his lungs.

As he sank deeper, fully seating the length of his cock into the shivering heat, Hannibal folded himself around Will’s frame. He cradled him and rocked forward ever so gently, making Will suck in a breath and moan his name again.

“Hannibal…” he keened, cinching his eyes shut. “Oh God…”

“Look at me, Will.” Hannibal coaxed as he gave another careful, rolling thrust feeling Will’s body squeezing and relaxing in turns, unable to cope with the sensation.

It may have been a mistake, Hannibal reflected, to ask Will to open his eyes. The look on Will’s face, caught between physical pleasure and the internal anguish of finally letting go unexpectedly sent Hannibal hurtling back to his kitchen in Baltimore. The sound of rain pounded in his ears over the Italian surf. The smell of blood flooded his nose, stronger than the smell of sex and sweat. He fell back to the moment that the teacup shattered all those years ago. He stared aghast. Unable to move and barely able to draw breath.

“Stay with me, Hannibal.” Will whispered, seeing and knowing all at once.

A smile barely flickered across Hannibal’s face. “Where else would I go?” he responded, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Will pulled him close, though he already felt full to bursting. He couldn’t be sure if the sensation was physical or emotional, and it didn’t matter anyway. It all blurred in his mind, even as the details of everything around him crystallized. The wave of the curtains in time with the sea breeze. The last beams of bloody sunlight streaking across the white walls. The lines of Hannibal’s face… cheekbones that could cut glass. All of it was as sharp as fish hooks, caught on his heart and reeling him in.

Hannibal for his part was utterly enraptured. He moved in slow, undulating thrusts that rippled up his entire body and crashed through Will, shaking his frame and making him cry wordlessly. He had found the angle that had his cockhead stroking directly over Will’s sensitive prostate, making his cock pulsed and leak in time with each thrust. 

But Will was completely lax otherwise. His body was draped across the bed and robbed of all will to move. Hannibal had succeeded in fucking every drop of tension from his him. Even his orgasm, which usually was coiled tight like a spring, felt more like an incoming tide. Calm. Serene. Inevitable.

When it finally washed over him, he was both blinded and paralyzed with the pleasure of it. He might have cried out, but he couldn’t be sure. All his eyes could see were stars arcing across his vision as ecstasy flooded out through his limbs and into Hannibal who came a moment later. As he spent himself, he collapsed onto Will with a ragged gasp limned in foreign words. Will didn’t know any of them, but he knew the shape of them.

Hannibal stared at Will in the last light of the day as if he were the eighth wonder of the world. And neither of them spoke, as the stars all twinkled to life to witness their afterglow. Hannibal wordlessly cleaned both of them up, and then drew Will in close, winding their limbs together as if he might escape.

“What did you see?” Will asked after a long moment. “You… went away for a minute there.”

Hannibal, who had been toying with Will’s curls, paused in his reverie for a moment before speaking. “I saw my mistakes. My vengeful haste that nearly robbed me of everything.” A smile bent his features, drawing fissures on his face for shadows to sink into. “You said to me the same thing I said to you when you killed Randall Tier.”

Will nodded. “It was good advice both times. It’s always good advice.”

Hannibal nodded, still smiling. “Stay with me?”

Will sank further into Hannibal’s embrace as he leaned in for a kiss. “Where else would I go?”


End file.
